With their first group stage match of the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 scheduled on Monday 10 June, the Nadeshiko Japan continued to hold their training session on Friday 7.

During the training session held in the morning, the team went through various possession drills and mini games before dividing the team into offence and defence to conduct separate training menus depending on the players’ position. The players were then gathered together to go through tactical drills that simulated various situations of the game, including plays involving throw-ins.

On this day, the opening match of the tournament was played between the host nation France and Korea Republic following the opening ceremony. The highly anticipated match that kicked-off the action for the month-long tournament attracted over 45,000 people, and the home side showcased their dominance over Korea Republic to start off the tournament with a spectacular 4-0 victory.

The players of Nadeshiko Japan watched this match as a team at their hotel. After witnessing the wonderful ceremony, the dominating display of the host nation, and the enthusiastic crowd at the stadium, it gave the players a taste of what to expect for the coming weeks.

The Nadeshiko Japan will face the Argentina Women’s National Team at Parc des Princes on Monday 10, with a kick-off time of 18:00 local time (25:00 Japan time).

Players’ Comments

MF #7 NAKAJIMA Emi (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
The World Cup has finally started, and I am very excited for our first match. The team is surrounding by a tense atmosphere and we are already in our game-mode right now. Every team in this tournament, including our first opponent, Argentina, will come after the ball with great intensity, but we just have to focus on playing our game. The first match is always very difficult, but we hope to gain momentum by winning the match and make a deep run at this World Cup.

FW #19  ENDO Jun (Nippon TV Beleza)
Although our first match is scheduled a few more days later, I am excited to see the tournament kicking-off. With this being my first World Cup, I am feeling a bit nervous, but more than anything, I am very excited. The quality of our combinations will play a key role in our style of football, so I am focused on heightening our quality through our training sessions. We have just few more days before our first match, but I will continue to train hard to improve as a player within the limited time.

MF #6 SUGITA Hina (INAC Kobe Leonessa)
The atmosphere surrounding our team is getting tenser as our first match is getting closer. During today’s training session, we went through the approaches to force turnovers in defence, and how to initiate our build-up plays from goal kicks. We hope to showcase our efficiency to force turnovers and apply more numbers when making our approach to the ball. With this being my first World Cup at the senior level, I am thrilled and nervous at the same time. As a central midfielder, I hope to help out the team by turning on the switch of our plays, especially when our opponent is possessing the ball and we are in the defensive end.

Schedule

Nadeshiko Japan (Japan Women’s National Team) Squad, Schedule

FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019

Tournament Dates: Fri. 7 June - Sun. 7 July 2019

Group Stage:
Tue. 11 June 2019 01:00 (Japan time)
vs Argentina Women's National Team

Fri. 14 June 2019 22:00 (Japan time)
vs Scotland Women's National Team

Thu. 20 June 2019 04:00 (Japan time)
vs England Women's National Team

Tournament Information